September Teacher of the Month: Mr. Aaron Weis

As we kick off the new school year, 826 Valencia is thrilled to present Mr.Aaron Weis, an amazingly dedicated Science and Math teacher at Rooftop School,with our September Teacher of the Month award.

As one of his students noted, and several others echoed, Mr. Weis “goes the extra mile to assure that students are thriving academically and socially.” His classes are incredibly exciting and constantly feature, as one student noted, “awe-striking experiments and knowledge-ignited students.” Wow! It turns out Mr. Weis’ love of science and math is highly contagious—one student notes that, after having Mr. Weis as a teacher, “I began to love math more and more until I reached the extent of math being my life.” We here at 826 Valencia also love that Mr. Weis pushes his students to write rigorously by encouraging them to use the “five Ws”: who, what, when, where, and why.

Mr. Weis is perhaps most famous for his biweekly “Problem of the Week” lunch club, which provides a space for students to gather, eat snacks, and problem solve “fun and brain-stumping math problems.” Many of his students commented on how collaborative these sessions are; one even called his club members and Mr. Weis his “second family”! Best of all, his former students know they can always count on him to keep “teaching me and inspiring [me] to learn new ways of math,” even after they graduate from his class. Thank you, Mr. Weis, for helping all of your students, present and former, become math rock stars!

We would be remiss if we didn’t mention that every single letter we received documenting Mr. Weis’ awesomeness stressed how far above and beyond he goes to support his students, his colleagues, and his community. Described as “the first one to open up the school in the morning and almost the last one to lock it back up at the end of the day,” Mr. Weis wears many different hats at Rooftop. In addition to serving on the PTA Board, facilitating student council meetings, and staying after school to provide tech support for evening events, Mr. Weis runs the weekly Technovation program, which provides a space for girls to learn computer and programming skills. Last but not least, Mr. Weis has also been known to spend hours crafting the perfect playlist for the last school dance of the year, which he has deejayed for several years. (You might spot him wearing his famous old-school Adidas tracksuit!)

We loved hearing the glowing reports from Mr. Weis’ classroom at Rooftop! For all that Mr. Weis does for his students and his school, 826 Valencia is proud to honor him as September’s Teacher of the Month and present him with a $1500 honorarium to use as he wishes. Our hats are off to you, Mr. Weis!